Living life: Happiness versus pride

People set out to create and achieve great things in their lives. Some people may even feel proud of the things that they have been able to accomplish. But, people should stop being proud of their accomplishments and focus more on being happy with them.

Firstly, pride inhibits complacency within the individual. Pride allows individuals to look back at their actions as if one were admiring a painting—a painting that is perfect and complete. The issue is that in life, one should not have the ability to look at anything in their life as perfect. That relationship with your loved one could be better, your grades have room to rise, and you could always eat healthier. Pride makes one feel as if they’ve already achieved everything that they could to the best of their abilities.

I am not trying to encourage someone to become hung up on things from the past—something that is incredibly unhealthy—but to learn it, and allow those lessons to influence your future.

Happiness provides this ability.

Happiness stipulates that individuals recognize that more could have been done, and encourages people to strive for perfection, a goal that will always better the individual.

Happiness and pride also diverge in regards to whom they serve. Pride is a self-serving vice that prioritizes the individual and their success. Happiness, on the other hand, allows for individuals to recognize their progress, encourages them to improve and allows them to share this experience with others.

Importantly, we see happiness as an opportunity for individuals to also experience their lives as opposed to idolizing their accomplishments. Happiness, unlike pride, allows you to see your flaws.

Being happy with your grades or accomplishments can, for some, be a difficult task. This becomes further complicated when adversity strikes. When individuals fail, trying to remain happy can be difficult. People will retreat and question themselves and their capabilities—sometimes they’ll turn to sadness to deal with these emotions. With students specifically, lamenting in sadness can be incredibly discouraging and debilitating. This is where happiness can help.

Firstly, peoples should always look at the things that occur to them through a happy or positive lens. “Always look on the bright side of life.” This seems like a simple enough task, but requires true effort and a yearning to be happy.

Secondly, be happy! Even if you’re not completely feeling it, aim for where you want to be and not where you find yourself currently.